An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 139 of 176

An-Nisa 4:139

ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ ٱلْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا

“Those who take disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek with them honor [through power]? But indeed, honor belongs to Allāh entirely.[225]”

Saheeh International

Essence

The hypocrites court the enemies of faith in search of honour, but every grain of honour belongs to Allah, and none can be bought elsewhere.

A reflection

All of it, and none of it ours

Fa-inna l-ʿizzata li-llāhi jamīʿā: for honour belongs to Allah, all of it.

Not most of it. Not the highest share. Jamīʿā: entirely. Commentators explain ʿizza as strength, invincibility and the power that prevails. One adds the decisive point. Complete power is Allah's alone. Anyone else who is strong became strong only because He made him so. Whoever is honoured was honoured by Him.

That is humbling for the ego, because so much of our life is spent chasing honour. A title, a seat near the front, the deference of a room. We tend to think we own these things, that we earned them and can keep them.

Picture a man introduced for twenty years as 'the chairman'. Doors opened before he reached them. Then he steps down. A month later he visits the old building to collect some papers. A new security guard, polite and unaware, asks him to sign in and wait in reception. He sits under his own portrait. The honour, he realises, had belonged to the chair.

The Prophet ﷺ conveyed a striking saying from Allah. Might is His lower garment, grandeur is His cloak, and whoever contends with Him over them will be punished (Sahih Muslim). Pride is reaching for a garment that was never ours.

A sceptic may ask whether claiming all honour is vanity. But Allah needs no one's praise; He is the Free of need (35:15). This is not a claim to be flattered. It is a statement of where strength actually lives. And it frees us. If honour is His, it cannot be stolen by a rival, nor bought from the powerful.

The arrogant ego clings to borrowed honour as if it were its own. The humble heart asks the Owner for it, and holds it lightly.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.